Fix You
by CompYES
Summary: They're both good at breaking things. It's time for them to try their hand at fixing them instead. AU after Ballad S1. Follow up to "We Wanted It Too Much." HIATUS
1. I Need You

**Fix You**

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Summary: _  
_

Spoilers: This is a follow up to _"We Wanted It Too Much."_ You don't have to read it, although, there might be references to scenes in it. Just be current with Glee all the way up to episode 1.10 _"Ballad."_ This is about a week after the break up.

Disclaimer: I don't own_ Glee_, or _Fix You_ by Cold Play.

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_When you try your best but you don't succeed  
When you get what you want but not what you need  
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep  
Stuck in reverse_

-_Fix You, Cold Play_

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**Chapter 1: I Need You**

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It had been a week after she and Puck had broken up. Since that day, they'd hadn't interacted with one another very much. Her feelings had been rubbed too raw by the abrasive things he'd said to her. Mr. Shue had paired all the kids off for duets, her with Quinn (really, was Mr. Shue trying to start something?), Artie with Santana, Tina with Mike, Matt with Brittany, Finn with Kurt and Puck had the misfortune of being paired with Mercedes. They'd been driving each other crazy (crazier than she and Quinn were), and she'd heard from Kurt that there had been discrete attempts on each other's lives. In a fit of anger and honesty, Puck had spilled his guts about the true paternity of Quinn's baby to her. Mercedes, the true gossip queen she was, had let it slip to the other original Glee kids. Between her and Kurt, it wasn't long before everyone knew. Including Finn.

No one could stop what happened when the truth came out to Finn. Both Puck and Quinn had known that Finn would eventually find out when, not if, someone sat him down and explained to him how hot tubs could not get a girl pregnant. Finn had confronted Puck at Glee practice. And Puck, in a misguided attempt to do the right thing, told him it was true and let Finn beat the shit out of him. It had taken Mike, Matt and even Mr. Shue to haul the enraged, hulking teen out of the choir room and into the hall to cool down amidst the chaos.

Back in the choir room, it was chaos. Santana was yelling at Quinn for being a back-stabbing slut, Quinn was sobbing all over herself, Rachel and Tina were trying to console her, Mercedes was trying to help Puck who was bleeding on the floor, Kurt was calling an ambulance and Brittany was trying to find the first-aid kit with Artie. Everyone was a mess and no one knew what was going to happen to the Glee club once everything had settled down.

After everyone was sent home, Mr. Shue had immediately informed everyone that Puck was hospitalized for the injuries sustained from Finn's beat down. He would need to spend anywhere from three days to a week in the hospital in recovery. Mr. Shue didn't have anything to say about whether or not Puck and his mother were pressing charges against Finn for assault. The day after the incident, Glee was divided. Santana, angry at Quinn for sleeping with Puck while they had been dating, was taking "Finn's side" against Quinn and she dragged Brittany, Matt and Mike with her as well. Kurt, Mercedes, Artie and Tina had chosen to support Quinn, who was slowly cracking under the pressure of not only Santana's reign of terror as the new official HBIC, but also Finn's wounded vitriol during glee.

And Rachel well…she had decided to stay way out of the conflict. Like in neutral Canada zone with Mr. Shue.

Her heart had broken for Finn when she heard the news. But she knew that she had to look at the situation as objectively as possible before throwing her weight in with anyone. It wasn't like she was thrilled that Quinn had essentially slept with her ex-boyfriend out of spite at Finn, and then tried to fool Finn into taking care of her while she was pregnant. That wasn't something easily forgiven in anyone's book. Besides, it wasn't like he cheated on her, the pregnancy had happened before they had started dating. And for as horrible as Quinn had been to her, she was still just a scared, stupid girl who had made a terrible mistake and needed to be understood just as badly as Finn did. She didn't deserve the combined ire of two of Puck's ex-girlfriends coming at her. Santana was already as bad as two or three all by herself.

That's why she had decided that she needed to hear the story from one last person:

Puck.

She knew that where their relationship stood was a little ambiguous, considering they weren't really friends, and before dating, they were even less. Out of the three involved however, Rachel was sure Puck would be able to shed the most light on the situation. Something told her he'd be honest if she asked him straightforwardly what had been going through his head these past months since the night he and Quinn had…well, had sex and conceived the baby now swelling in her stomach.

It wasn't like she was doing it because she was trying to get him back. Breaking up with him had been hard, but it had been the right thing to do for both their sakes. Puck didn't need her changing her mind and chasing him when he was hung up on another girl. Especially now considering the circumstances. He didn't need a girlfriend, he needed a good friend. She had to prove that she could be that good friend, because with the way the day had gone, he would need one.

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Puck hadn't expected anyone to visit him other than his mother and his little sister. It had been a tough discussion with his mom when she had begged him to explain to her why his best friend of almost ten years had just hospitalized him. It was even tougher when Rachel Berry showed up out of the blue and started demanding the truth. This was a girl who drove him crazy in ways he couldn't explain. Made him feel things for her he wished he didn't. Because unlike Quinn, he knew that even though he wanted her, he didn't deserve this girl who was special; so smart, talented and willing to listen to him even though she had every right to hate him and shut him out. She didn't slap him, or call him a loser for sleeping with his best friend's girl and getting her pregnant. He didn't deserve it but he was thankful that she was here anyway, as she sat with him and held his hand, and let him pour his heart out to her.

It was amazing how he could just spill his guts to her like that.

When he had told Mercedes about the baby, it had been an accident, and had come out in the middle their fight. Under normal circumstances, he never would have. This time, he calmly told Rachel in painful detail everything that had happened the night of the party with Quinn. How they'd both been drunk and upset with Finn. How when he found out about the baby, he'd immediately tried to take responsibility, tried to be involved in his child's life. How hurt and angry he was when Quinn had blown him off and called him a loser. How he'd joined Glee so that he could keep an eye on her and convince her to change her mind. How upset he got when he found out Quinn would be putting the baby up for adoption. How he already loved his little girl (he'd fallen in love the minute Quinn had reluctantly informed him of his baby's gender with a text) and how worried he was about not being a part of her life.

They sat there for a long time. Her absorbing that he said with a quiet acceptance he would have killed to have had from anyone else in his life. Right then and there, he made a promise. Regardless of what was going on with Quinn and Finn, he was going to fix things with Rachel. He wasn't sure what he wanted from her anymore. Friendship, love, sex, understanding, he didn't know. However, he did know that he just wanted her in his life. With Rachel, in the short time they had spent together not hating each other, he'd found someone who really liked him for who he was and believed he could be more than the guy he tried to be at school. Where they'd left off in the bleachers had been bad, and he knew he'd said some shitty things to her just so that he could make himself feel better about her dumping him. That wasn't the way he had wanted things to end, even if she didn't want to date him anymore. It was unexpected that in so short a time he could he care so much about Rachel and what Rachel thought of him. That he would be willing to give up having _that kind_ of relationship just to be with her.

"Noah?"

He re-focused his attention on her. She was done processing all of the information.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to be with Quinn?"

He sighed.

"I don't know."

He really didn't. If it were a question of who he wanted to be with at this moment, he would've said Rachel in a heartbeat. But he knew somewhere in himself, that Quinn needed him, and knowing that was hard. It wasn't fair to Rachel, wanting to be with her while having to support the girl he'd gotten pregnant. His breathing picked up a little when she carefully moved so she was kind of sitting and lying down net to him on her side. It took some effort, and him biting down his discomfort, to shift onto his side so he was facing her.

"Do you need me?" She asked him, her eyes gazing up into his searchingly.

"What?"

"I..." her brow furrowed in frustration, "I think I might still like you Noah. But you don't know how you feel about Quinn yet, so I'm not going to force you to decide between me and the mother of your child. Nonetheless, I'm willing to stand by your side and be your friend through this. Do you need me?"

He couldn't believe it. Couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she may still have feelings for him. So he focused instead on her offer of friendship and what it might mean, because she didn't sound like she wanted to talk about dating. When he thought about it, she was right, now wasn't the time for those kinds of issues.

"But what about Finn, Rach? He's going to expect you to be there for _him_."

It was hard for Puck to keep the slight resentment out of his voice as he said this.

"Finn will have to deal with it. He has practically everyone in the school standing behind him in this. I…know he's going to be hurt by me choosing you. But right now, all I care about is you, Noah. Finn's my friend, but I consider you mine as well. Even though you said didn't want friendship, I still do. I want to be there for you, if you want me to."

And he did. He wanted her. He needed her.

Even if it was just friendship.

Unable to vocalize an answer (he was afraid he'd start crying or some emotional shit like that, and he couldn't let her see that), all he could do was reach for her with his uninjured arm and pull her a little closer. Close enough so that he could remember all the details of this moment clearly. So that if he ever wanted to lose himself in something good, when all the shit in his life seemed to catch up with him like it had yesterday, he could remember this. He could forget that he'd knocked up Quinn, that Finn hated him, and that he was going to be a father.

In this moment, Rachel Berry was his. Her tiny, warm body was pulled up against his with her hands gently placed on his chest. His nose was buried in her soft hair as he took in her sweet scent. He could feel on his neck her light, quick breaths. She was so close he could even hear it.

The only person on her mind right now was him. Not Finn.

And that was all he could ask for.

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New and improved AN (08-08-12): For any new readers who feel like S1 was ages ago and those who remember S1 clearly and don't understand why things are out of sequence and/or wrong timeline wise with this story, it's because I started writing it S1. Way back when the show was all brand new and shiny and everyone knew who Matt was. Somehow, Finchel's still endgame (my belief has been suspended since the midway point of S1). The AU here is that Puck told Mercedes about the baby's true paternity BEFORE Finnocence got the bright idea that he should tell his girlfriends parents through song that he got her pregnant (that had Kurt relationship trolling written all over it and Finn was just too dumb to see it coming). Therefore, the truth spreads through the school, but not to Quinn's parents, meaning she hasn't been thrown out yet. This story is a little unfavorable to Mercedes (and Kurt by extension sometimes) because it's kind of set into motion by Mercedes being an unabashed gossip queen while in the actual show, Mercedes actually advocated NOT telling Finn the truth and siding with Quinn (wtf?). While I have some feelings about the utter bullshit Mercedes and Kurt pull behind Rachel's back (because they were most certainly not Rachel's friends back then), I kept it down to Rachel being distrustful towards them. So with all that cleared up, continue with the story.


	2. Nice Jewish Girl

**Chapter 2: Nice Jewish Girl**

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They lay there for an hour until Rachel gently tugged on Puck's arm and asked him to let her out. Puck was tempted to just hold onto her and not let her go anywhere. He almost did until she promised that once she got done what she needed to accomplish, she was going to come back.

"You're coming back?" Puck asked confused, but pleased at the same time.

She glanced at him a little shyly before replying. "Yes. I was thinking I'd take a quick trip home and grab a couple of things I'd need so that I could spend the night here with you. It just seems…a little lonely to be here by yourself. That is, if you don't mind…?"

If it had been any other girl but Rachel saying that to him, he would have instantly assumed he was getting laid. But because it was Rachel, he knew that it was meant in the most innocent, thoughtful way possible. Which meant she probably wouldn't appreciate him taking it that way. But he couldn't help that his thoughts were turning southward. With the way she was already driving him crazy with words alone, he was considering telling her that it might not be a good idea for her to stay the night. But the little bit of hopefulness in her smile made any thoughts of rejecting her offer to stay disappear. Even if it was a (kind of) bad idea.

All he could do was give her a playful smirk (laced with a touch of his trademark Puckasaurus charm), "Hurry up."

Her smile grew a little more eager, and she quickly scooped up her purse and scampered out the door. He watched her for a while through the open door of his hospital room before she vanished entirely from his sight. A sigh escaped his lips as he re-settled himself more comfortably on his hospital bed, almost unconsciously leaving the left side open for when Rachel got back.

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"Dad!" She called into the house as she let herself in, "Daddy!"

There was a muffled reply shouted from somewhere deeper in the house. As she closed the front door behind her, she could hear two sets of footsteps heading in her direction. Turning around, she saw both of her fathers standing at attention, waiting expectantly to hear what she had called them for.

"What is it Sweetheart?" her dad asked, "You're getting home a little later than usual. Is everything alright?"

Swallowing the flutter of nervousness she felt, she mentally prepared herself for any possible disapproval her fathers might have of her plan. She'd do it either way, even if they said no (after all, what budding star didn't experience some teenage rebellion?). Still, Rachel preferred that she had both of her father's okays on spending a night at the hospital with Puck. It would put her mind more at ease if she did not cause conflict for her loving parents.

"Do you recall when I heard from Mr. Shuester, the Glee director, that one of the glee members who had been hospitalized?"

Immediately both of the men were concerned.

"Yes we do, Princess," he daddy replied, sharing a look with her dad, "It's that Puckerman boy right? He's one of the young men who attend temple with us?"

Her dad gave him a grim nod.

"Is he alright Princess?"

"Oh yes, he'll be fine. He's just going to need to stay in the hospital a while longer for recovery."

"His poor mother," her dad said, sympathy in his voice, "Why, I don't know what we'd do if something like that happened to you."

Her daddy moved to his side and wrapped a comforting arm around him.

"Well, that's what I wanted to speak to you two about."

Rachel began to prepare her plea so that it sounded as innocent as possible as her father's curiosity began to pique again.

"Even though his mother's a nurse at the hospital he's being kept at, she doesn't have enough time to divide between her work, his little sister and him. I thought it would be kind to give her a helping hand and spend the night keeping _Noah_ company. He is one of my _friends_ after all. Is it okay?"

All through this, her fathers had been silently listening to her explain everything. She'd really pulled all the stops here. Helping out Puck's _poor_ over worked mother. Not to mention she made sure to emphasize on the fact that Puck was her friend. It was kind of true, and she was positive that the importance of him being her friend would not be lost on the two of them. They knew that she had a hard time making friends. She'd kept the bullying a secret, but it was harder to hide the fact that she'd had no friends when she had no social life at all. Her quiet Friday nights in and family only birthday parties were simply more damning evidence. When her fathers started non-verbally discussing whether she'd be allowed to spend the night (she hated it when they did communicating with their eyes thing), she grew a little worried. She breathed a little sigh of relief, though, when they turned their attention back to her, their expressions warm.

"Of course Rachel," her dad said, pulling her into a three way hug, "We're glad that you're being so thoughtful and nice to this boy and his mother. And we _trust_ that nothing inappropriate will be happening between you two." He gave her a meaningful look. "After all, he is injured."

Immediately, her cheeks colored and she started nodding vigorously into the hug, promising that nothing would happen. Her fathers eventually let her out so that she could run up stairs and pack her overnight bag. She went over a mental list of what she needed and settled on just some clothes to change into tomorrow as well as her toiletries. It was a bit of a shame she couldn't take her elliptical with her, but she supposed she could make up for the exercise some other way. Maybe she could jog a couple laps around the hospital or something.

Once she had given both of her fathers a hug, a kiss, and a promise that she'd call them before falling asleep, Rachel flounced out the door and to her car, impatiently turning it on so she could get back to the hospital.

* * *

Hospital food sucked.

Puck stabbed his Jell-O with his plastic fork until it was no longer a recognizable shape. While he'd been waiting for Rachel to get back, one of the nurses had come to deliver him a tray of food. Eating it just wasn't worth the effort, especially considering how hard it was to do anything. He was willing to starve for now. Nothing would convince him that the coleslaw here was any better than the crap they served at McKinley High. Frustrated, he pushed the tray away, like a petulant child who wasn't getting what he wanted. It just wasn't real food.

God, how he wished he had something warm and greasy right about now.

His thought were interrupted when there was a quiet knock at the door and he almost rolled his eyes, because he already knew who it was. Humoring her, he told her she could come in. Poking her head in, Rachel smiled once their eyes met and then shuffled into the room, keeping something big behind her back. One of his eyebrows arched in bemusement at her antics, though he was a little curious about what it was she was trying to keep from him.

"Whatcha got, Rach?"

"I assumed," she started, "That you might want something to eat." Seeing his questioning look, her cheeks turned rosy with embarrassment as she continued with her explanation, "I mean, I know that the hospital provides its patients with acceptable food," she glanced briefly at the tray of food sitting at his bedside, "But I have heard that most people prefer other choices than what the hospital has. So…" she pulled whatever it was out from behind her.

If he could've (it was debatable), he would've stood, scooped her into his arms and danced some sort of jig right then and there. It wasn't like she'd gotten him anything special, just a couple burgers, some fries and a coke at one of the numerous burger joints in Lima. But compared to what he'd been eating since yesterday, it was exactly what he'd wanted. With a grateful smile, he took the bag and the soda from her and dug in. She reached into her own bag and pulled out a salad (he snorted inwardly at it) and they started eating in companionable silence. When they were done, Puck insisted she lay beside him on the bed. He swore up and down that it was because it was cold in the hospital at night, and he didn't want her to freeze (cause her skirts were too damn short to keep her warm).

She didn't argue with him like he expected her to do, and simply climbed up and scooted close to him, propping herself up on the pillows.

And he totally wanted to kiss her when she got close enough.

Instead he gingerly put an arm around her waist and rested his head on her chest, and asked her to tell him how school had been. And she did (avoiding talking about Finn and Quinn, since neither she nor Puck really wanted to think of either of those two and ruin the moment). It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, because he was not really listening to what she was saying, just listening to her voice and the quick rhythm of her heartbeat. He liked to think that it was beating so fast because of him. Once she was sure he was out, Rachel pressed a kiss to his shaved head and settled in, letting herself fall asleep as well, Puck's warm embrace keeping her cozy and warm.

That's how his mother found them the next morning.

* * *

Explaining to Puck's mother in the morning that they had not been doing anything scandalous was a whole new experience in humiliation. She couldn't believe that the first impression she had made on Puck's mother was that she was a scarlet woman. While usually confident in the face of adversity, Rachel couldn't for the life of her dredge up the words to speak up for herself to his ranting mother who had immediately assumed the worst of the situation. It had been weird listening to Puck try to tell her that no, Rachel was not Quinn, the girl he'd gotten pregnant, no, he and Rachel were not romantically involved (they were just "friends"), and that the only thing they had done last night was eat and sleep together And that by sleep, they had _not_ had sex.

This had all happened while Rachel had her head buried in one of the pillows, desperately trying to emulate an ostrich.

When Mrs. Puckerman, who after the misunderstanding had been cleared up asked Rachel to call her Deana, finally stopped yelling and started listening to what her son, she was equally embarrassed and apologized profusely to Rachel for jumping to such a heinous conclusion about a nice Jewish girl like her (she gave Puck a pointed look that Rachel didn't miss, but didn't understand). His mother had a complete one-eighty on her attitude towards her. Before either Puck or Rachel could agree or disagree, Deana had decided that Rachel was coming over for dinner once Puck could come home.

"Really Noah," his mother said, hands on her hips, "Where have you been hiding this girl from me?" She turned on Rachel, all smiles, "And how is it that I've never met your family before?"

"Um, I wouldn't know," Rachel responded, unable to keep up with the shift in the conversation.

"Well, I'm going to make sure that we all become well acquainted, dear. Don't you worry about that," Deana promised, before saying that she needed to go and start her shift and that she'd be back later to visit.

Beside her, Rachel could feel Puck sinking into his sheets, and she didn't blame him for a second.

"Wow…" she whispered.

Puck opened his eyes and glanced at her before asking, "What?"

"That was truly very…awkward."

Puck groaned, and sunk a little deeper into his bed.


	3. The Divide

**Chapter Three: The Divide**

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The weekend, it seemed, had left them too soon.

Rachel wanted throw a fit, refuse to leave her bed and not go to school. While of course maintaining her dignity and poise through said fit of course. It was childish and stupid, but all she wanted to do was have a lie in and only get up when it was time to visit Puck. Knowing her fathers, with the right amount of wheedling, they'd let her get away with that and murder as well. However, she had an obligation to her academics as well as Glee, and it wasn't like she couldn't visit Puck right after her last class. She just didn't feel like going when she knew there was somewhere she wanted to be even more. Not once had she ever let the people bullying her at school get to her, but the bullying wasn't the only problem anymore. Lately she'd been feeling so... alienated from everyone, even in Glee.

Finn's half-hearted attempts to try and make her feel like she was involved with the club were kind, but it felt like when she had needed him most as a friend to depend on, he distanced himself. The rest of the club was barely any better. It was unfortunate that Quinn, Santana, and Brittany were so rude to her, but at least they did it to her face and didn't try to excuse their behavior. Kurt and Mercedes were all smiles and "Hey girlfriend!" to her face, but constantly kept on excluding her from Glee club meetings, decisions and hangouts behind her back. To a degree, she could understand where they were coming from, but to sabotage her in Glee, one of the few things she looked forward to each day, was a hard thing to swallow.

The experience was beginning to remind her very much of what it had been like working with Mr. Ryerson during Cabaret before she had quit.

Eventually, she had gotten out of bed and conducted her usual morning rituals before leaving home. She pulled into the school parking lot and parked her car. The desire to play hooky was still creeping in on her with the same intensity it had when she had first woken up this morning. It was still early, so she didn't have to head in quite yet. Pulling the key out of the ignition (mostly to discourage herself from turning the car back on and leaving) and putting it in her purse, she allowed herself a few minutes of quiet contemplation, reclining her seat a little so she could do it a little more comfortably. Turning her thoughts away from being irresponsible, she turned them onto problem solving. Problem solving for Puck of course.

During all of their conversations over the weekend, neither of them had discussed in very much detail what their plan was once Puck had to come back to school. She was genuinely afraid for Puck coming back. While it was unlikely that Finn could get away with another outburst on the same level as the one that had hospitalized Puck in the first place, the possibility of it happening again was terrifying. Rachel had never felt so scared and helpless as she had when she had watched Finn beat Puck into the ground. Finn was a big boy, but he was always so sweet and gentle despite his awkwardness around her and the rest of the girls in Glee, it had seemed impossible to envision him any other way than an enormous puppy. Seeing him so violent and angry, it was a whole new light to Finn she had never expected. She remembered how when she had first found out she was attracted to him, she had marvelled at how different he was from the rest of the dumb, barbaric jocks.

In light of that as well as everything else that had been happening these past few weeks, Rachel found herself having to reevaluate Finn's character. The only thing that seemed to set him apart from them lately was that he could sing.

Sighing, she pushed those thoughts away as well. She couldn't completely vilify Finn either. Puck wasn't a complete angel in this. And it was because of his own mistake that he was in so much trouble now. Just testing the waters last Friday had clued her in to the fact that Puck's name was now equivalent to dirt at school. If Finn didn't try to go after Puck himself, she didn't doubt someone else, another jock, maybe even a cheerleader, would target him instead. He'd have it just as bad as she did, if not worse, because he didn't even have the solidarity of the Glee club to back him up either. Not for the first time, Rachel felt tears pricking her eyes at how miserable Puck's new high school existence was shaping out to be.

There was suddenly a knock at her car door window.

To her surprise it was Tina and Artie. Both were wearing genuinely concerned looks on their faces as they looked in on her from the outside. Reluctantly, she rolled down the window and greeted them.

"Hey Rachel."

"Hello Tina. Artie." She nodded to the both of them, not offering anything further, hoping they'd pick up on the fact she just wanted to be left alone.

"How've you b-been?" Tina asked pleasantly.

"Um, fine." Rachel was confused. What did they want?

"Rachel...I don't really know how to say this but..." Artie started.

She frowned, "Say what?"

"Well, Finn's been trying to get into contact with you since last Friday."

Her frown grew a little deeper.

"He has?"

Artie nodded grimly.

"When he couldn't get a hold of your cell, or your house, he started calling all of us."

"Yeah, he even c-called me at two in the morning on Saturday to ask if I knew where you might be!"

"Mercedes told me he asked the same thing of her. Kurt too."

Biting her lip, Rachel asked worriedly, "And what did you guys tell him?"

"Well, w-we just figured you'd be home you know? That's all we told him."

"Rachel, what's going on? Why couldn't anyone get into contact with you over the weekend? Why was Finn trying so find you so badly?" Artie asked, Tina looking on nervously.

That was a good question. She couldn't be positive, but knowing Finn, he'd probably been looking to her to be his sympathetic ear, someone to rest all his troubles on. For a second, she felt horrible denying that to him when he was hurting. But at the same time, she reminded herself that all of those times he'd done it in the past, he'd just been using her and the way she'd felt about him. Even if his relationship with Quinn had been dissolved, Rachel didn't want to be used that way anymore. And... when she said something, she never went back on her word. She remembered what she'd told Puck.

"I..." Rachel glanced between the two of them.

She took a deep breath. Now wasn't the time to be meek. Puck was counting on her. Her back straightened against her car seat and she pinned them with her sternest stare. Both Tina and Artie, neither the confrontational type, quailed under it.

"I want you two to answer some questions for me before I tell you anything."

Tina nodded her head vigorously.

"Sure," Artie answered, nervous but willing.

"Where do you stand on the situation with Finn, Quinn, and Puck?"

Both of them found a way to not look at her. Artie by looking down and fiddling with his fingerless gloves. Tina's eyes darting away as she tugged at her purple highlights.

"Well?"

"I don't like that P-Puck took adv-vantage of Quinn..." Tina admitted quietly.

"Me neither."

"Is that it?"

"No," Artie answered, "Both of us don't like what Puck did, but we don't like what Finn and Quinn did either." He frowned. "Even though Puck used to be the bad guy, he's one of us now, he's a gleek too. Finn thrashing him like that might ruin our chance at Sectionals." He glanced at her worried, but pushed on with what he was saying. "And Finn didn't deserve to be lied to by Quinn the way he was either."

Beside him Tina was nodding in agreement.

"So," Rachel said, "The way you two see it, all of them are equally to blame?"

Though nervous that they might be giving her the answer she didn't want to hear, they nodded, standing by what they said. Hearing about their neutral stance on things was truthfully the best thing she could've heard. She beamed at them, watching as they both seemed to breath out in relief at the fact that she was not angry or upset with them.

"Do you two promise not to speak a word to anyone about what I am going to tell you next?"

They nodded very seriously.

"I spent the weekend at the hospital with Noah."

"You mean Puck?" Artie asked wide-eyed as Tina's hands flew to her mouth.

"Yes," Rachel replied warily.

"Is he okay?" There was sincere concern for Puck in the Asian girl's words. She didn't even stutter.

"He's better. He'll be back in school by Wednesday. And he'll hopefully be ready for Sectionals at the end of the week."

"That's good."

"What brought this on Rachel?" Artie suddenly asked, "This concern for Puck? Out of all of us original glee kids, you have a very good reason to not throw your lot in with Puck. He slushied you every day at school for the last three years, sometimes more than once a day. And we all saw how your guy's doomed relationship imploded after you dated only a couple of days. You two haven't even talked let alone acknowledged each other since then."

Rachel flinched at the mention of her first and failed dating experience with Puck. Artie was right. Before the confrontation between Puck and Finn, things between her and Puck had been bad. The boy in the wheel chair sighed.

"All I'm trying to say is, it's weird that out of anyone you could've sided with, and we all expected it would be Finn, you go to Puck of all people." He looked at her curiously. "Why?"

"Because someone needs to," she said with every ounce of conviction she could muster, all of her belief, her faith in the Noah she'd seen and held in that hospital bed.

Not a bit of it was acting either.

Both Artie and Tina see that as well.

"If you really feel that way, then Tina and I have your and Puck's back on this."

"Thank you."

Finally getting out of the car, the three of them headed in, and for the first time in weeks, Rachel didn't feel utterly alone in the halls of McKinley High as Tina and Artie flanked her entrance.

* * *

Everything leading up to when glee club would meet was just Rachel growing a little closer to the oncoming storm. She put her all into avoiding all of the other members bar her sole allies Tina and Artie. She didn't trust speaking to any of the popular glee clubbers and she especially didn't trust Kurt or Mercedes. Even if they weren't Team Finn right now, she highly doubted they'd take any side that included her. So far, she'd already had a couple close calls with Finn. It was hard to ignore someone you sat directly next to in Spanish. Speaking to Mr. Shue just before class proved very helpful. Though he didn't understand her request to be kept away from Finn, he trusted she had a very good reason for asking it. He'd done what he could in setting up a partner activity and deliberately arranging it so they were apart from one another. Rachel was willing to deal with Jacob, disgusting pervert he was, for the duration of the class period for some peace from Finn.

When the moment of truth finally came, Rachel found her mouth dry and her palms sweaty.

She was seated on the stool at the front of the classroom. The one Mr. Shuester always sat on to speak to the entire class about the lesson plan. Staring out at her current audience of empty seats, she mentally practiced what she intended to say to all of them. Speaking to Tina and Artie this morning had given her the courage to plan this impromptu meeting and do the one thing she did best: make herself heard. Everyone filtered in in groups of two or three until at last they were all there, including Mr. Shuester, who took his occupied usual seat in stride and sat in one of the chairs with the rest of the class in the front. In the middle.

It was with a scowl Rachel took note of the fact that they had for the most part taken their sides again. Finn, who was shooting her several looks at a time, was to the left with his posse, a cheerleader on either side of him. Quinn sat to the right, Mercedes and Kurt with her. There was finally Tina and Artie, who sat towards the back, close to Quinn, Mercedes and Kurt, but clearly keeping to themselves. They gave her encouraging smiles. She worked up the nerve to smile back.

"Hello everyone!" Rachel greeted more cheerfully than she actually felt.

There was unenthusiastic response in return.

"It has come to my attention that our glee club has become divided."

"No shit Sherlock," Santana sniped, "Thanks for pointing out the obvious."

"Santana," Mr. Shuester said in a chastising tone, giving the Latina a look.

The girl sniffed haughtily, and crossed her arms.

"Like Santana said, it's obvious." She took a moment to sweep her eyes across the room, meeting each glee clubber's gaze head on. "And it needs to end."

This statement immediately had half the club on their feet yelling at her or at each other.

"You can't possibly think for a minute I'm going to forgive her!" Finn yelled, pointing at Quinn angrily.

Said pregnant blonde curled in on herself. Kurt wrapped an arm around her, and Mercedes rose and put herself in Finn's face.

"Back off white boy!" she exclaimed, "You know it's not all her fault!"

"Oh really?" Santana asked with a sneer, "Not her fault for going and sleeping with my boyfriend and Frankenteen here's best friend? Not her fault for basically lying to him that he's the baby daddy with that shit excuse about hot tubs? I don't know what kool aid you're drinking, but all I see is a lying, cheating skank."

Quinn started sobbing.

"You say another bad thing about Quinn and I will cut you!" Mercedes took a step towards the cheerleader menacingly. "Besides, it was your boy who got her drunk in the first place!"

Rachel had had about enough. And so had Mr. Shue. They stood as one and bellowed, "QUIET!"

Once the room was silent, Rachel pushed on.

"Everyone has made mistakes this year," she said, emphasizing the word everyone, and not just putting blame on everyone but her, "Some mistakes larger than others. I'm willing to admit that I haven't been the easiest person to get along with. Pardon my language, but I've been an annoying pain in the ass." She smiled a self deprecating smile to herself, that had many of the other glee clubbers staring back at her in shock and awe that Rachel "I am perfect the way I am" Berry admitted to a character flaw. "The point is that, despite all of our mistakes, when we forget them and come together, we are amazing.

"We're strongest when we're together but right now, we're divided. I'm not asking anyone to give forgiveness when then feel they cannot." Her eyes slid from Finn and Santana to Quinn. "I'm asking that we set aside our differences for the sake of the club. We can't let our conflicts defeat us before we've even gone to sectionals, or else everything we've done, all of the times we've shared, will have been for nothing. If we can't at least try, then we might as well march down to Principal Figgins's office and tell him to disband the glee club right now.

"I don't know about you, but I do not want to let go of glee club. I don't want to lose a single one of you, because no matter how tenuous the bonds might be, no matter how much you may not like me, I consider all of you the closest things I have to friends."

Several members dropped their eyes, ashamed and unable to meet her gaze.

"More than anything..." she said firmly, "I do not want to see Coach Sylvester walk the halls of McKinley gloating over the triumph of seeing New Direction's fall. Who here feels the same?"

This time, it wasn't angry yelling. It was cheering. There was clapping. Mr. Shuester stared back at her, he looked so proud of her as he applauded her. Getting to his feet, he went to stand at her side and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Rachel's right you guys. Do you think we can come together for Sectionals?"

There was agreement all around, some stronger than others, but not a single dissenting or abstaining person.

"That's great."

As Mr. Shuester started getting the class settled down for actually working, Rachel mentally sighed to herself. This may have been a small victory, but she knew deep down in her heart it was only the beginning. Things had settled down between the Finn and Quinn factions. Brittany, Mike and Matt had already moved where they were sitting so they were closer to the other side. Tina, Artie, Mercedes, Kurt and Quinn accepted them with open arms. The only two people in the room who didn't actively try to show some team spirit were Finn and Santana, though the fact neither were openly glaring at Quinn anymore was progress.

The real conflict would begin when Puck returned.

Finn looked to her right then and there, grinning as if things were close to right again. That she was making them right again. And she recognized the look in his eyes. The adoration and admiration. Little did he know where her loyalties really lay. She prayed that maybe at some day, he'd forgive her when the time for her to make her second stand came.

Because when it came down to him and Puck, and it would, she knew it would, it was going to be Puck she'd be standing by.


	4. Not Alone

Chapter Four: Not Alone

* * *

Like Friday, she found herself lying beside him on the unoccupied side of the hospital bed, jibbering about her day. She began with the mundane things. Spanish, math, lunch. It created a dramatic effect when she started describing the more exciting parts. Like Tina and Artie and what happened in glee. When she finally came to the end, she waited for him to say something. Minutes trickled by, but no words came forth from him. He simply sat there, looking like he was in deep thought. Maybe it was just a lot for him to process?

"You seriously spent an entire Spanish period with the pervinator as you partner? Willingly?" he finally asked her, his facial expression pinched in incomprehension.

She wanted to sigh. Of all the things to take away from her brilliant story telling, he honed in on the least interesting (at least to her) part of it.

"While it was indeed an unfortunate turn of events, yes. Jacob served as an excellent repellent against Finn," she explained.

Puck snorted.

"He's repellent to practically everyone and everything."

Something inside her wanted to scold him for being mean. It was a very weak willed though. It was hard to drum up the effort to want to defend Jacob Ben Israel when Puck was simply telling the truth. Jacob was a certified creep and what was worse was that he had an extremely disturbing obsession with her of all people. When he wasn't sleazing around about her, he was determined to make other people's lives miserable by publicly exposing their deepest, darkest secrets. There was only so far that her willingness to help the downtrodden and misunderstood would go. Demanding her underwear and exposing Quinn's pregnancy had put him high on the list of her least favorite people. Right up there with Coach Sylvester.

"You shouldn't have to do that, you know?"

Withdrawing from her own thoughts, she looked back to Puck who was staring at her seriously, all traces of humor swept away.

"Well, I have to keep away from Finn. It's-"

His hand, taking a firm, yet gentle hold of her own, silenced her immediately.

"Rach..." he seemed at a loss for words, "Don't hang around Jacob just because he keeps Finn away from you."

Though she could've argued the practical benefits of setting aside her dislike for Jacob Ben Israel, the look of genuine concern in Puck's eyes gave pause to any argument. Holding his gaze longer than she knew was appropriate, all she could say was, "Why?"

"Because," Puck growled a little frustrated, "I've seen how he looks at you and the way he talks to you. And I don't like it. So just don't do that anymore, kay?"

If he kept staring into her eyes like that, she'd never be able to tell him no ever again. Something about Noah Puckerman's eyes was bewitching. Her head nodded slowly, and then more enthusiastically when his lips twitched in a half-smile, half-smirk that made her heart beat at an alarming rate. How did he keep doing this to her? Even when he used to slushie her, her heart would flutter when she caught sight of him coming towards her from down the hall. And she was only now willing to admit that it wasn't simply anticipation of being slushied back then that got her in such a tizzy.

With what little restraint she had, she stood and shook her head as inconspicuously as she could. She had to get her head back in the game. After all, hadn't she been the one saying this wasn't about getting back together? To end the awkward silence that had settled over them, she moved to his bedside table, where a floppy piece of colorful paper was sitting. Curious, she picked it up and looked at it. Her curiosity only grew when Puck suddenly snatched it from her hands before she could investigate further.

"It's rude to just take things from people without asking," she said, not really scolding, more like asking what it was.

"It's just, something from my sister," he admitted embarrassed, not offering up anything more to his explanation.

"May I see it?"

He hesitated. She was willing to be patient and wait on his reply. If he flat out said he didn't want to show it to her, she would accept his refusal gracefully.

And maybe take a peek when he dozed off.

Silently, he passed it to her, his eyes glinting as if he was daring her to say something about it. Glancing down at the paper, she realized it wasn't exactly just a paper but a get-well card made from folded colored construction paper. Pink paper. Holding back her chuckles, she perused the cards content. There were a couple misspelled worlds and a lumpy brown thing that looked like it could be a football. The most endearing thing about the card was that even though she called him a stupid head, his sister expected him to get better quickly so that he could watch the Lion King with her and read her story books so she get to sleep.

_P.S. Mom doesnt do the voyces like you do._

"She's... adorable."

"She's a pain in my ass," Puck grumbled, looking away.

"Can I meet her some day?"

"Why?" he asked, sounding genuinely surprised that she'd be interested.

"Because I think I'd really like her," she gushed with enthusiasm, "If we're going to be friends, I've got to meet your family. I've already met you mother," both of them grimaced a little at that thinking of the first meeting, "So I guess it's best for me to meet your sister as well. It's obvious how much you care for her, and she cares for you too."

"I guess..."

"So did she come in and give it to you?"

"Nah, my mom passed it along." He winced. "She was afraid Abbey might not take seeing me like this so well."

Without thinking, Rachel returned to where she'd been sitting on the bed with him, placing a hand on his face. The bruises on his face were enormous. Her fingers dragged softly down the stubble on his jaw. Puck picked fights all the time over the many years they'd been in school together. He was so tough though; every time he went into a fight, he came out on top. Even if he got a little roughed up, all he'd ever do was smirk and brag to his friends, "You shoulda seen the other guy!"

Except this last time. Finn had come at him and he hadn't fought back at all. He'd let Finn beat him bloody into the classroom floor until the larger boy had been dragged off of him. Though she hated senseless violence, she wished Puck had tried to fight back, at least defend himself. If he had, maybe he wouldn't be so hurt now. Maybe he wouldn't even have been hurt at all.

"Rach, I-"

Whatever he'd been about to say was cut off by the sound of the door being pulled open. Both expected it to be his mother checking up on him, only to panic when it most definitely wasn't her.

Quinn Fabray stood frozen in the doorway, dressed in casual clothing Rachel was still unused to seeing her in. Her eyes, unadorned by makeup and red rimmed, shifted from Puck, to Rachel, then back to Puck incredulously. Rachel jumped when she realized what her and Puck together must have looked like to the other girl. Her hand was pulled away in an instant as if Puck's skin had burned her. She'd been about to stand and back away when she felt his hand on her wrist, holding her back. Looking to him, she was surprised by the actual nervousness in his eyes.

He didn't want her to go.

Uncertain, but unwilling to leave him to deal with this on his own, she slowly resettled herself on the bed and returned her attention to Quinn.

"What the hell is this?" the blonde finally demanded, her arm gesturing furiously at the two of them as she came in.

"Hey Fabray, sup?"

"Don't ignore my question. What the hell is she doing here?"

"I-" Rachel started only to get one manicured finger pointed threateningly at her.

"Shut up." Glaring at Puck, Quinn continued. "Now I want you to tell me why she's here."

"I know this may shock you, but I actually have friends who'd want to see me in the hospital when I'm all laid up like this."

"Friends?" Her eyes narrowed glancing briefly at Rachel. "Noah Puckerman doesn't make friends with girls. All he does is screws them till they're boring. Or pregnant," she said, gesturing at her slightly protruding belly.

Indignant rage swelled up in Rachel. She opened her mouth to say something in defense of Puck, only to be cut off.

"I know I deserve that," Puck admitted quietly, "But you can't sit there and put all the blame on me when you know you're responsible too. It takes two to make a baby."

"Oh, because this is so hard on you. You put this thing in me!" the girl screamed at him, "You used me when I was feeling insecure and now I'm this- this pregnant freak! I lost my position on the Cheerios, I lost Finn, and it's only a matter of time before my parents find out and disown me. So tell me how this isn't all your fault!"

"Quinn," Rachel finally interjected, "You're right. You are the one who has to pay the steepest price for what happened. Puck took advantage of you." The diva's eyes met with his briefly, and she saw the regret he felt, but could also see him giving her the go to push on. "But he wasn't the only one to made a mistake that night. And when he found out about your situation, he tried to do right by you. It was you that pushed him away and it was also you who took advantage of Finn's gullibility. You can blame him all you want for it, but you can't pretend you are guiltless and the only victim of this ordeal."

By that point, Quinn's face was red with anger and streaked with tears.

"What do you know huh?" She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes as she hunched into herself. "I have nothing anymore. No one's going to take care of me. He said he'd take care of me but he's just going to go to you. Why do they always leave me for you? You're just..."

"Quinn," Rachel said softly reaching out to the blonde.

"I'm all alone," Quinn cried brokenly.

"No you're not." The brunette placed one hand on the other girl's arm. When the other girl didn't react, Rachel moved closer until she had one around her shoulders. She reached up with her other hand to run it softly through the golden tresses, soothing the girl. "What about Mercedes? What about Kurt? Remember what I told you before? There will always be someone there for you. I'm here for you. Noah is absolutely here for you. Because we're here, you're not alone. We'll never leave you alone."

"But I'm going to be fat and ugly and I'm going to have stretch marks and then no one will ever love me again," Quinn sobbed into her chest.

"Shh, don't say that. You're beautiful Quinn, even pregnant. I've always been jealous of how beautiful you are. I think you'll always be beautiful and even if you weren't, people would still love you."

"You're lying." The pregnant girl shook her head. "Why would anyone love me if I'm not beautiful?"

"Because there are other good things about you," Rachel answered, backing them up so she was leaning against Puck's bed, with Quinn still in her arms, "You're smart, since you get grades as good as mine. And you're a hard worker, it's obvious by the way you managed to become captain of the Cheerios as a sophomore. And you have a wonderful singing voice that rivals my own. Deep down, I think you must be capable of so much love, and understanding and kindness, you just have to let the world see it." Rachel pulled away a little so she could look her right in the eye. "I believe you're a very lovable person Quinn. You just have to believe in it too."

"I don't deserve it." The blonde sniffled. "I don't deserve you believing in me. I've done so many awful things to you. You should hate me."

"She should hate me too," Puck said after remaining silent for such a long time, "But you know Rachel. She likes to be the exact opposite of what you expect of her."

Her face was a mess, covered in tears and snot, and her mussed up hair fell in her eyes. For the first time since she'd arrived though, the girl smiled a genuine smile.

"Yeah," she agreed, "She does have a habit of being like that."

"Am I being insulted?" Rachel asked, glancing suspiciously between the two of them.

And even though it hurt him to laugh, Puck burst out into guffaws, Quinn following a second after, and more tears, happier tears, began leaking out of the corners of her eyes. Rachel couldn't help smiling even if they were laughing at her expense. It was better to see them laughing than sad.

* * *

When his mom came to check in on him for real, it waswith eyebrows raised as high as humanly possible that she took in the sight of the teenagers on the bed.

Once all three of them had calmed down, the ex-cheerleader had explained that after what Rachel had said in glee, she'd come to discuss with Puck what they were going to do. Now that their secret was out in the open, neither could predict just how things would go or how they should prepare. They would've gotten to it if it weren't for the fact both Quinn and Rachel were exhausted by the emotionally trying events of the day. While Puck admitted that he did want to avoid that conversation, the largest reason for putting it off was that he was concerned about his baby mama. Quinn looked bad, like she hadn't been sleeping well for the last couple of days. He knew that that couldn't be good for the baby. And as for Rachel, he really just wanted an excuse to get her close again.

Quinn had been incredibly suspicious of his motives when he suggested they all try for some sleep for a while. She was ready to start talking to him again, but she wasn't sure if she was comfortable sharing a bed with him considering how she'd gotten to be in her current state. After some negotiating, and some crazy maneuvering, all three had managed to get onto his cramped bed with Rachel serving as the buffer zone between him and Quinn. Puck was plenty satisfied with the situation. While it would've been hot to be nestled between both girls, he knew out of the two of them, Rachel would've been his first choice if he could only hve one. She was just so warm, and small, and easy to sleep next to.

It was funnier than shit that he and Quinn fought over Rachel as if she was the blanket they both wanted to hog. Quinn was pretty much cuddled up to the upper part of Rachel's body while Puck had pushed himself farther down, using her hip as a pillow and his arm thrown over her legs. (He had to remind himself that they were supposed to be sleeping and that she would probably work herself into righteous midget rage and kill him as slowly as possible if he flipped her skirt just to sate his curiosity about what color her panties were.) Rachel herself hadn't really put up much of a fight. She actually seemed as content as he did with the set up. By the time his mom had showed up, Rachel and Quinn were already fast asleep and Puck was just about on his way.

His mother was now giving him that look, the one she usually reserved when he'd done something wrong and that they'd be having words about it.

"I remember Rachel," she said quietly in an even tone, "But which one is this?"

She pointed to Quinn.

"That's um..." his mouth went dry.

"Would I be right in assuming this is the infamous Quinn Fabray?"

"Yes..."

His mother stared up at the ceiling with a long suffering look.

"Are either of them actually your girlfriend or are you going to keep telling me that you're all just friends?"

"We..."

She held up a hand to stop him.

"Just don't answer that. I have this feeling that it won't be the truth either way."

Puck grimaced. He really needed to get out of the hospital. As much as he enjoyed having time with Rachel outside of glee, he was really not enjoying his mom popping in. He loved his mom (ha, try getting him to admit that in public) but she was seriously cramping his style.

"While this seems innocent enough, I want to remind you, Noah, that this is a hospital and I work here, therefore will not tolerate any of your usual shenanigans, injured or not. Am I clear?"

Her tone brooked no argument.

"Yes mom."

"Good." She came in and started tidying up around his room as he internally tried to get over how messed up this was. His mom stopped at the head of the bed, looking Quinn over. "You've really gotten yourself into trouble this time son."

"Yeah."

"It's even worse than I thought originally," she said, pushing some of Quinn's hair out of her face. Her hand traveled over to touch Rachel's cheek, "You're just children. How can your lives be so complicated already?"

"I'm going to fix it," Puck whispered, "I'm going to make it all better someday. I know I screwed up, but I'm going to fix it."

"I know baby," his mom whispered back to him. She leaned down to place a kiss on each teen's forehead, saving Puck for last, "And if you need help, don't be afraid to ask me. I'm your mother, God put me on this Earth to love you and help you even in your darkest hour."

"Thanks mom," he murmured, beginning to drift off.

"Sleep tight."

She dimmed the lights before retreating fully, sending up another silent prayer for her son.

* * *

Nana: I really want to hate Quinn, but every time, I feel like trying to save her instead. Sigh. Oh well. The Quinn development was not planned. But I felt a little Faberry friendship would be fun to write. Sorry for all of you out there who were hoping for a threesome, I'm not adventurous enough for that.

Ps. This chapter is dedicated to Skyegirl.


End file.
